Duplicity
by thebluelake
Summary: Modern day AU. A young, unhappily married couple find that tales of deception are never simple.
1. Chapter 1

The sun has barely risen and neither have her hopes. Every time for a long time now she has waited for the little bit of sadness that should come with bidding a lover goodbye; she hasn't felt it in a long time.

There's a single orange line of light across the bedspread, filtering through the gap in the too thin curtains. Gale sets his bag on the table and slips his phone into his pocket along with a packet of cigarettes he'll forget about later when he's queuing up to buy more expensive ones; apparently you can only get the best in Europe. He wants to fix his hair again but can't turn on the light in case he wakes his wife. It's 6 o'clock when he glances back towards the dressing table, he pads over softly and kisses Katniss, asleep and wrapped up in the sheets. She stirs and reaches out, threads fingers round his tense neck.

"You're going?" her voice is worn with sleep and cracks slightly; her mascara is smudged ungracefully - she obviously forgot to take it off again last night. Gale kisses her and grazes his nose softly against the soft skin of her cheek, breathing in the worn down smell of leftover perfume and soap.

"I'll be back before you know it."

He says the same thing every time and Katniss wonders why she even wakes up anymore for this.

Katniss manages a smile in the dark and runs her palm over the stubble she wishes was there - it reminds her of when they were 16 and Gale would let his beard grow for weeks. He said it was to annoy his mother but once she'd told him she thought it suited him, she was fairly certain he grew it for her.

"Ok."

She sees Gale's eyes glisten in the dark with the guilt that Katniss knows is there but that he shouldn't feel. She has suspected for a while what happens when he leaves. She turns her head away; to hide the emotion behind her eyes. Gale told her once he could read her like a book and she's afraid he'll see the guilt on her own face - he won't though. He stopped being able to read her a long time ago.

He shuts the door quietly and makes his way downstairs. She can hear the sound of the tap running in the kitchen before the front door shuts too and Gale's car drives away from the house.

* * *

Katniss doesn't realise that she's fallen asleep again until she wakes up and sees the clock blinking nine. She reaches for her book on the table beside the bed. She only manages a few pages before it ends up on the floor among a pile of discarded clothing. She opens the window and welcomes the cool summer breeze into the door; it wraps around the soft tendrils of hair escaping from her braid and makes them quiver.

She likes California - how the sun feels on her skin, the cheeriness that the lack of cold provides and the feel of the sand on her feet when she walks on the beach. It dawned on her some time ago though, that maybe it was the familiar squeeze of her hand in his, the feel of lips against her own as the waves crested over their skin, how the sunlight would catch Gale's hair just right and bring out the few threads of dark blonde, that it was all of these things that made her fall in love with California originally ten years ago. She had been so young, still only 18, her mind so fresh with new romance and caught up in the excitement of their new marriage.

_"It's going to be great. You'll love California. And my new job will have us not wanting for anything ever again, I promise. It won't be like home. We'll have everything we ever wanted."_

She didn't tell him then that all she wanted was him. A car accident had claimed the life of her mother and father and baby sister when she was only young. Her grandmother passed away just the day after Katniss 18th birthday and her arrival into adulthood, having raised her grand daughter from age 6. She had met Gale when she was just 15. He felt like the first true friend she ever had. When he kissed her on her 17th birthday she smiled and kissed him back. He was her chance for love, for permanency and stability and all she ever wanted.

Or so she had thought.

* * *

Gale likes Madrid better than anywhere else. He learnt to speak the language a long time ago, he likes the restaurants better, the culture and the people. When he steps off the plane into the Spanish sunshine he can't quite help but feel like he's been holding his breath the entire time and he's finally getting to exhale. He fell out of love with Los Angeles quickly the more they sent him to Madrid.

He takes off his sunglasses the moment he sees her outside the airport, her long blonde hair glistens in the sun. Most of the time he actually is in Madrid on business, and even when he isn't Katniss believes he is anyway. He still never looks her in the eye though when he tells over dinner about his latest business trip. Madge greets him in Spanish, kissing him quietly on the cheek before taking his darker, larger hand in hers. She starts talking enthusiastically about something that one of her students did that morning in class and he smiles, watching her expressive face and beautiful smile as they walk towards the cab. He couldn't help but compare them from the start, - she's so different to Katniss. Her open heart and welcoming eyes are truthfully what drew him to her initially, it was only later he noticed her beauty and the way she made his heart skip in a way Katniss never did. Katniss' eyes are grey and stormy and all they seem to remind him of now is the tension in their marriage, awkward dinner conversation and perfunctory love making. When he is honest with himself, his best memories of he and Katniss's relationship are from before they moved. Before he kissed or vowed in front of a room full of people to be true to her. Madge's eyes are glistening pools of blue and hold all the promise in the world of love and hope and second chances.

They always walk hand in hand in the streets of Madrid; the smart business man in his suit with the beautiful girl next to him in her sun dress. They shop in the finest places; jewelers designer clothing stores and vintage accessory shops. He always buys something in one of these places, rarely for Madge, which he has gift wrapped. He puts the parcel in his pocket or bag every time and she smiles at him and doesn't ask who its for. Everything they are is based on the things they don't say, or more pointedly, the things he won't say.

* * *

Katniss watches him her balcony, sipping her coffee and occasionally breaking off pieces of her breakfast. She flips carefully through her magazine, never looking at it though. This is her morning routine. She watches him as the muscles in his shoulders roll beneath his crisp white shirt and his friendly voice echoes up to the floor above as he interacts with customers. She catches him glancing quickly up; not enough for anyone but her to notice, and she does.

Not too long after she hears the knock on the door and inhales loudly and quickly without realising before opening the door. His blue eyes sparkle and he smiles before stepping inside and leaving the package on the tabletop. He's cut his hair she realises a little sadly. She liked how it started to curl a little as it grew longer, especially now in the summer when it was turning continuously more golden in the sunlight.

"Thanks," He says quietly, taking the offered glass of water from her and draining it, "it's so damn hot out there." She smiles at him and takes the glass from him, their fingers brushing and a gentle blush breaking out over his cheeks as she watches him.

"Gale is..."

"Away. Like always." She interrupts. He clears his throat and stands, watching her, arms twitching by his sides as though he can't decide what to do with them. He clears his throat and opens his mouth, anything to break the thick tension in the room.

"So I just brought you your usual ..."

He reaches for the parcel on the table but is stopped by her fingers wrapped around his wrist pulling tighter by the second. Katniss kisses hard him, presses him against the counter and threads her fingers through his hair and thinks she can faintly smell cinnamon today before she stops thinking altogether.

* * *

"I wish we could do this all the time." She smiles and runs her fingers throug his dark hair before trailing her fingers down and running her thumb over the smudge of her pink lip balm on his jaw.

Gale smirks and takes a drag of his cigarette.

"I'd only break your heart."

Madge makes him feel like he is a teenager again sometimes; his stomach feels funny when he catches her gazing at him, her eyes filled with something he has never saw in those of his wife. When he runs his hands over her breasts and her waist and down the curves of her hips he can hardly believe his luck. She always laughs lightly and writhes when he strokes her inner thigh and he can't think of any sound he loves more. She lets herself be wrapped in his arms, him stroking her hair and pressing his nose into it. She makes him feel needed in the best way possible.

He puts out his cigarette and kisses her softly before they lay down to go to sleep.

* * *

Katniss could settle for his this she thinks, if one day Gale were never to return (that thought scares her but not in the way that it should), as Peeta moves above her. The air from the now wide open window wraps itself round their naked bodies as they move in rapture. Peeta's breath vibrates against Katniss's shoulder as she comes quietly, she can hear his breathing grow ragged and his movements less steady as he groans into her ear before finishing with a final push. He rolls off of her and sits up reaching for his jeans.

She watches him as he awkwardly puts his clothes back on, pale skin flushed pink and blonde hair sticking up in all directions as he pull his Mellark's bakery shirt over his head. Peeta turns round and grins at her, carefree, wistful and something else and Katniss is momentarily jealous. He leans over to kiss her, awkwardly pausing before pressing his lips shakily against hers. She smiles at him, his shyness despite what just transpired.

"I order a lot of bread and buns for such a small girl," She says after as they stand in the kitchen.

Peeta frowns and takes the cup of tea she hands to him.

"That's what Gale said to me a while ago."

Peeta smiles sadly and glances guiltily at the floor. She reaches for his hand and strokes his fingers. She tells him not to think about it too much, though she knows he does. She catches him looking at her sometimes, the look that makes her stomach feel something that's not quite fear but not quite excitement either.

"You fancy going to see a movie tonight or something?" Peeta looks hopeful and Katniss feels his hope break as she declines him politely.

"I...I'm sorry I couldn't."

Peeta smiles a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes, chants a polite "never mind then" and Katniss feels awful. Not for turning down the offer, but because she wants to go but can't. The though of going is just too much for her, because they aren't friends or anything even close to that. Peeta is just the man who works in his brother's bakery, who deliver's goods every single day with a smile and a laugh, who fucks her sometimes everyday for a week until her husband returns. Truthfully Katniss didn't have a proper conversation with him until after the third time when she got a phone call while Peeta had his head between her legs and she had to explain that it was her husband calling her.

He kisses her softly on the mouth like he always does before he leaves but just as she thinks he's about to pull away he tilts his head and pulls her tighter against him, his tongue slipping into her mouth steady and passionately as the fire from it licks its way through her body.

"I'll see you soon," he smiles as he says it before he leaves.

* * *

She meets him that evening after all. They watch a movie and go out for dinner and have one too many glasses of wine and end up back at his apartment. It's the first time shes ever been there but she doesn't get much of a look at it as he pulls her through it, kissing her frantically as she tries desperately to unbutton his shirt.

They make love on cool blue sheets that smell of him, her on top of him gripping the headboard and rolling her hips as he presses his fingers into her soft flesh. He comes with his mouth on her breast, his fingers pressing into her clit as she pants his name and falls over the edge with him. They do it twice more after that. Once when Katniss goes to wash up and ends up sitting on the bathroomcounter with Peeta's tongue licking her to ecstasy before turning her over and fucking her over the sink. A second time when he tries to fall asleep and her tickling him awake ends up with her legs over his shoulders as he thrusts into her with wild abandon. She stays the night and is gone before Peeta wakes. She presses a kiss to her fingers as she is leaving, presses them against his heart and smiles. She feels it then, the sadness that comes with bidding someone you love goodbye.

She strips off all her clothes the second she gets home and washes them, panicking that some trace of her deceit will remain. No amount of water and soap can erase it from memory though.

* * *

Madge bids Gale farewell at the airport kisses him desperately, her small hands clutching the lapels of his jacket. Gale's heart stops when she whispers "I love you" against his mouth. He wants to say it back so badly but he can't. Not yet. He kisses her again, pushing all his emotions into the pressing of his lips to hers, gathering all his strength to convince himself to walk through the airport doors. When he glances back at her from inside the terminal she's still watching him, waiting already for when he returns. He smiles back.

* * *

Gale returns in the early hours of the morning, just like when he left. He finds Katniss asleep as though she's never moved since he left. His heart contracts painfully and he climbs in with his clothes still on, wraps his arms around the sound body. Katniss exhales in her sleep. They lay close, their dreams filled with hopes and thoughts of the next time they are apart.


	2. Chapter 2

_5 months later_

There is something different about Gale.

She notes it as she watches him making his breakfast tea, buttering her toast as the chill of the December breeze whips around her bare ankles.

"I'm only working half day today so I was thinking we could do something, maybe?"

She stops in surprise, and absently drops the bread onto the plate. It isn't that they don't do stuff together, they are husband and wife; it's that their plans are usually last minute. Gale coming home from work and declaring he's hungry and asking if she wants to go out for chinese food or Katniss saying she's going to the supermarket and Gale tagging along. He hasn't asked her like this in a while, like it's a date.

"Ok," and she smiles.

"Great." He pecks her on the cheek before he rushes out the door, shouting his goodbyes.

* * *

They visit the art museum and later he takes her to a Mexican restaurant they've never visited before . It feels like old times, holding his hand across the table and laughing easily, hearts light and merry from the few cocktails she's had.

She feels guilty later when she thinks of Peeta, as her husband has her pressed up against their bedroom, kissing her neck and pulling her dress up. She can't help but compare them. Gale is rougher with his kisses and uses his teeth a lot more than she remembers. It's been so long since they've done anything like this. She squeezes her eyes shut as she kisses him harder, forces thoughts of anyone other than her husband from her mind as he holds her up against the door and presses inside of her.

It feels good, but no matter what he does with his hands he can't seem to make it work and so she pretends as best as she can, crying out and clenching and nodding vigorously when he asks if she came.

* * *

He watches himself in the mirror, pressing his fingers to his forehead to ease the throbbing there as his phone goes off again.

4 missed calls now. Along with the other 4 he deleted. He can't face talking to her right now.

Madge had told him last time he was in Madrid that she was moving back to London to her family. And of course, she asked him to come. He'd said no and she smiled. Until later when he accidentally hit a button on his phone that opened up a picture of Katniss in her wedding dress; he'd smiled when he saw it and closed it quickly before he realised she'd already seen it.

He isn't exactly sure how it happened but everything descended into chaos from there. They'd argued for hours, screaming at each other, Made crying until she had no more mascara on her fair eyelashes.

She wanted him to choose there and then. Months and months of nothing, no talking about his life outside of them or the ring on his left hand and now, this.

He'd kissed her, grabbed his bag and left and made a promise to himself to make a change in his marriage. It had been a month since he'd last seen her. And yet everytime he closed his eyes all he could picture was her face.

* * *

Fucked. She was utterly fucked.

She'd known something was up when her morning coffee had her throwing up into the sink and she felt like she could sleep for days. It wasn't until she'd looked at her diary though that she realised it wasn't a flu.

The doctor had smiled and shook her hand and Katniss had thanked her politely before making her way out to her car. And sobbing her heart out.

Just when it seemed like she and Gale could fix things. Her initial reaction hadn't been too annoyed or angry; she had never thought too much about having children, she merely thought about it as a topic she'd consider in the future – which was naïve of her really, considering she was already 28 and they hadn't even mentioned it once. Her hope had been in those first few seconds of realisation was that the recent improvement in she and Gale's marriage had resulted in this; a baby. The doctor had wiped any of those hopes away the second she confirmed she was 11 weeks along.

Until the previous few weeks, she and Gale hadn't made love in four months. She cursed herself and a few missed pills, smacking her hands off the steering wheel and swearing through her tears.

She didn't know who to tell first.

* * *

"I've been having an affair," the words came much easier than she expected. He'd stared at her, blankly his face emotionless except for his eyes which had begun to water. It made her heart hurt.

If only she'd found out before everything had changed. Before Gale and she started smiling at each other again and laughing and making love in the mornings (or any time at all for that matter) just because they wanted to; before she'd felt like she was falling in love with him all over again. It would have been easier than this.

She tells him and she cries, and he cries and he hugs her, both of them clutching each other, afraid to let go. And really that's what it call came down to fear; she was too afraid to tell him she was unhappy and that made him unhappy and it all spiralled from there. She doesn't mention the baby to him, to save him even more heartache.

"You should go," he whispers into her hair and she nods, wiping her tears. He sits in the living room while she packs and doesn't bid her farewell as she leaves.

* * *

She catches Peeta just as he is pulling the door of the bakery shut. They haven't seen each other in weeks but his concern is immediate as he brings her inside.

"I'll make you something to drink," she nods pitifully and clenches her coat tighter around her body. He sets a cup of hot chocolate in front of her and sits down next to her, hands clenching and unclenching as he seems unsure of what to do or say. So she does instead.

"I told my husband about us. He made me leave."

Peeta's mouth opens and closes in shock, a strange cracking sound in his throat escaping as he tries to get the words out.

"Why did you do that?" he watches her carefully, she can feel his eyes on her and almost jumps out of her skin when she feels his strong but gentle hands stroking back and playing with the hair that has come loose. She turns to him; his blue eyes wide and confused.

"Because I'm pregnant."

* * *

Gale sleeps on the couch that night. He can't face sleeping in their bed without her and the second she'd left he ripped the bedding off in his fury and tore all the buttons off the duvet cover. He can't help but feel a guilty sense of relief take its place alongside his anger; every time she looked at him with hopeful eyes and her smile he could see blonde hair splayed across his eyes and hear the light laughs of the hotel room in Madrid He dreaded the day he would have to tell her or the day it somehow would all come out and destroy his marriage. And he didn't have to do any of it. She'd done it instead.

He knows rationally he shouldn't feel so betrayed or hurt, considering what he was doing on his trips away. It's just that everytime he thinks of the kind smile and soft voice of the baker he feels like putting his fist through the wall. As awful as it seems now in his head, he realises he always though Katniss would be loyal to him, faithful and trusting and waiting for him.

His hand goes to his phone and he scrolls down slowly, settling over her name as he calculates what time it is in England at that moment. He throws it against the wall and turns over without pressing call.


	3. Chapter 3

Peeta's apartment is small, much smaller than it seemed when her mind was foggy with alcohol and later, panic as she had fled. There are two doors off the open plan living and kitchen area which lead to a bedroom and a small bathroom. He leads her into the bedroom and despite herself she feels a blush rise to her cheeks when she sees his unmade bed. He starts clearing some space in the wardrobe for her to put her things, grabs some blankets from the top shelf and tells her to make herself comfortable before smiling gently and closing the door.

She sits down and observes her surroundings; she actually does remember his bedroom well. The blue sheets and the photo frame on his bedside table she couldn't get a proper look at before; Peeta stands there with another young blonde man, his brother she suspects, and what seems to be his parents. They're outside the bakery and the sun is shining and they look like the perfect family. She wonders how they will react to her news, their news.

"_You, you're sure it's mine?" he'd finally managed after a bit, he'd been silent for what seemed like hours and her stomach had churned nervously. His cheeks were a little red she noticed; he was embarrassed asking her she realised and she tried not to be too offended or affronted at the question. She didn't want her temper to ruin this. What if he just threw her out on the street? What was she going to then?_

_She nodded and pressed her lips to the mug. "I know it is. Gale and I," she paused before realising she wasn't going to talk about the recent developments in her and her husband's relationship when it no longer mattered, "Gale and I haven't had sex in so long, it's impossible." _

_He nodded still seeming unsure._

"_If you really want I can get a paternity test," she didn't mean to sound so accusatory but he was quick to shake his head anyway, holding onto her arm gently and squeezing it comfortingly._

_"No I believe you, I just, I thought you said we were safe?"_

"_I guess not."_

They'd agreed to talk more later

He's knocking the door now, asking her if she wants anything to eat and she only realises then she hasn't eaten since the morning.

He smiles as she enters the kitchen and sits with him at the table and it makes her heart lift a little. They eat in silence, him flicking through a magazine on the table and her watching him nervously between bites. Half way through the chicken casserole she sets her fork down and looks at him.

"I'm going to have the baby," she says it directly . He lifts his head and she looks him straight in the eye but he simply nods.

"I figured," he sets his cutlery down too, "It'll be ok."

Before she can interrupt him he reaches over and sets his hand over hers.

"I'll look after you both. I promise."

* * *

Gale decides the only cure for his despair is alcohol and a day off and so that's how he ends up in a sports bar at lunch time with an empty stomach. The vodka burns at first; it always does when he hasn't eaten and he hasn't had it in so long that he'd forgotten just how it felt. The girl behind the bar smirks at him as he pours another with some ice and a wedge of lime.

"You look like hell." She puts away the wine glasses she'd been polishing, reaching up on her tip toes to the shelf she can barely reach.

"I feel like it too." He necks his drink and feels his stomach roll unexpectedly. He though it would take a few more before he'd need to throw up. "Do you guys serve food here?"

She grins and shakes her head.

"Not during the week sorry. But," she pauses, her dark brown eyes observing him with just the slightest hint of sympathy behind them, "I can make you something. It won't be very fancy or anything."

He nods his thanks. It takes her ten minutes before she brings out a chicken and cheese sandwich and a bag of barbecue chips. She watches him eat carefully, still sorting glasses as he munches slowly through his drunken haze.

"So what happened? Lost your job? Somebody die? Divorce?" she glances at the band on his finger and watches him.

"No divorce yet but I guess that would be the next step."

She works on and they don't interact again. He drinks on into the day and through the night.

* * *

Peeta leaves for work the next morning and there's a note on the kitchen table for her telling her to do whatever she likes and a key set beside it. Her key, she presumes. She notices more now, with time to observe the rooms properly, how basic it all seems. And then she realises that she doesn't actually know that much about Peeta and so why would she presume to know what his apartment or possessions were like. It's clear he doesn't make the same money Gale did. Her old home was huge, three bedrooms and a balcony and a pool for all the residents to use.

She feels a clench of worry gnaw the pit of her stomach. She doesn't have a paying job and hasn't in years. Gale convinced her there was no need to have one when he could pay for everything. She'd felt like she should be insulted at first but truthfully she liked it, the time to do whatever she wanted. Just when it had started to grow dull, the days with no one there and a lot of time to fill, and she'd considered going back to work she found another distraction. The one that had landed her here, pregnant, with the child of a man she barely knew.

One thing she did know was that this apartment was quite clearly too small for a baby. She decided she'd talk about it with Peeta later, curling up on his sofa with the TV on and nausea clenching at her insides. Peeta had told that he worked for his brother who ran the bakery that once belonged to their parents before they retired and moved to the country. She can see another photograph of the four of them now, but in this photo Peeta looks to be a toddler, barely walking and leaning on his older brother who has his arm around him. She smiles a little, wondering in a sleepy daze just before her eyelids drift shut if her baby will have blonde hair too.

* * *

Gales wakes the next morning in a part of town he has never stayed before. He is definitely dying he decides and so this must be the afterlife. Grim. His head aches, like there is someone inside trying their best to drill a hole through his skull, and his hands are stinging beyond belief. He realises when he opens his eyes that he doesn't a have clue where the hell he is. He's on a sofa he doesn't recognise in a small living room with the curtains drawn. He can hear a shower running. He inspects his hands; they're both torn to pieces, red with jagged cuts, though they seem to have been cleaned up reasonably well.

His shoes are off but apart from that he's fully dressed. Thank god he doesn't have to go to work today he thinks, a moment of relief before a door opens and someone enters the room.

"Morning sunshine."

* * *

She and Peeta sit on the sofa that evening watching a movie he brought home from work, something his brother had said was good. Truthfully she stopped following the plot a while ago, her mind awash with panic. She only found out about this pregnancy the day before and already it was tormenting her. She spent all afternoon after her nap googling facts and figures, numbers and money about pregnancy and babies and children. Gale had saved money in all different accounts saying it was for "the future." They'd discussed children when they had first got married but somewhere along the way it had dwindled off as a conversation topic until it was never mentioned at all. Still somehow Katniss had known though, or at least suspected, that when he Gale talked about the future and the thousands he had saved for it, he was talking about their future family.

"Are you ok?"

She was abruptly pulled from her mess of thoughts to be greeted with Peeta's puzzled expression. If he looked close enough to her eyes he could surely see the many thoughts ticking away in her brain.

"Umm, yes. I'm fine." He watched her, waiting, as though he knew something was about to come spilling out of her. "No." She began to cry weakly, a few tears rolling down her face as she sobbed softly. She could feel his arms around her and buried her face in his neck as he stroked her back. He smelled nice, like worn in aftershave and the shampoo she'd borrowed this morning.

"I'm just afraid, about what's happening, everything that needs done and the money to do it ..." he stopped her then with a gentle shush and a brush of his hand on her hair.

"I told you. I'll look after you. Don't worry." He went to kiss her cheek before pausing, shaking with anxiety and indecision before quickly pressing his mouth against hers. It was quick and dry and gone before she could process it but she felt better.

He played the movie again and she fell asleep on the sofa, not waking again until morning to find herself in the bed with the blankets pulled snugly around her.


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHOR'S NOTE - Italics = a flashback. Thanks for reading**!

Her name was Johanna. Quite frankly Gale couldn't care less; she'd given him painkillers and a grilled cheese sandwich and so she was a saint in his eyes. She said she'd felt bad for him after their talk in the afternoon and so brought him back to her place. He was grateful. Johanna's apartment wasn't the most enchanting environment, but it was nice not having to wake up in a bed that still smelled of his ex wife's perfume.

He thought of her a few times over the weeks that followed, as his life moulded back into some form of normalcy. He packed up Katniss things and made sure he was out when she called to retrieve them. His heart didn't hurt as much as he'd thought it would when he saw she'd left her key on the counter as well as her wedding ring. It still made him drink three straight whiskies for dinner though. He started the formal divorce proceedings the next day.

He started looking for a new place to live. What did he need with a three bedroom apartment now there was only him, especially one so close to Mellark's bakery? He'd passed him one morning on his way to the grocer and had nearly stopped dead in his surprise. He hadn't been near the street the bakery was on since everything had happened and so it had somehow slipped his mind. Peeta had fumbled with the box he'd been carrying to the front door of the bakery when he'd spotted Gale, staring at him, willing him to make the next move. He had the decency to look away and continue with what he was doing when Gale walked on by. He briefly contemplated going back and smacking him in the jaw like he deserved; when he'd caught Peeta's eye for that brief instance, he got the feeling that that was what the baker was expecting to happen. He would probably have welcomed it, as some sort of penance. He tried his best not to pass the bakery from then on.

He asked to be reassigned in work. He couldn't bear the trips to Madrid any more and although his boss was disgruntled and agitated at first he agreed. All in all, Gale Hawthorne's mind and heart felt lighter than it had done in the two months since his marriage had fallen apart.

And so, one Friday when he happened to meet Johanna again at a bar where he was having a casual after work drink, he welcomed her offer to buy him another.

"You seem different than the last time I saw you," she mused, big brown eyes glinting in the darkened bar.

"Thank god, I was mess."

They both laughed. He liked the sound of her laugh.

* * *

Katniss Everdeen found out that seeing truly was believing. Her 12 week scan had been quite the eye opener and though it had done little to calm her fear and nerves, it made her more settled and focused in her thoughts. She was pregnant. She didn't know just how much she hadn't fully accepted it before until the fuzzy image appeared on the screen. There was a baby growing inside her. It hadn't seemed entirely real before.

It helped to break the weird, awkward tension that had been brewing between her and Peeta since everything had happened. When the nurse had let them see the baby and hear the heartbeat she'd held onto his hand, eyes wide and scared. He'd kissed her hair and laughed in disbelief at it all. She'd looked at him and the smile on his face and couldn't help but let happiness overcome her for a little while too.

He'd taken her home and said he had to go back to work for a few hours but when he'd finished he brought home a bag of Chinese take out that made her mouth water.

"I thought it would be nice to celebrate a little," he'd muttered a little unsure, his cheeks turning a light shade of red. She'd smiled and taken the food from him.

"This is great."

They had take out every Friday from then on. It was Katniss' favourite night of the week. She'd had to so many unpleasant things lately; stuff she had been expecting but nonetheless upsetting. Like collecting her belongings from her old apartment and having to open the divorce paper's from Gale. And so she always looked forward to her Friday evening with Peeta. He didn't have the Saturday morning shift at the bakery and so he usually had a few beers or some wine. The more he had to drink the more he would talk and so the more she wanted to talk in turn. He talked about how he'd told his brother about the baby but hadn't gotten the courage to tell his parents yet. They lived far away, somewhere on the east coast and he wasn't sure how well they were going to take it. She talked about how there was no one she had to worry about telling. He looked at her sympathetically but didn't ask for more information. She would tell him later when she was ready. He told her about how he never went to college because he had to help his dad run the bakery as he'd gotten too old to do it himself. His brother Ryan went though; he completed his degree in business and when he came back, their parents informed them of their decision to move and that the bakery would now belong to his brother. They said he was too young and inexperienced. And so that's where he remained, helping out his brother in the family business he'd dreamed of inheriting.

Katniss paused after he'd finished and something about the sad look in his eyes made her stroke her fingers through his hair, the way her mum did when she was little.

"We can tell your parents together if we need to. Don't worry about it."

It took them two months to get here. Two months and she finally felt like they were a part of each other's lives; not strangers living in the same apartment, not two lonely people fucking away their problems, friends almost. Friends who were having a child together albeit, but it was progress none the less.

He smiled at her and kissed her softly on the mouth. Her stomach fluttered.

* * *

"So Gale," she slurred drunkenly, "what kind of name is that? I knew a girl in high school called Gale. You may think you've got the whole dark, broody, sexy thing going on but seriously man, your name." She made a gagging expression as she staggered a little off the pavement but he caught her just in time.

"It's elegant and classic and I don't appreciate you making fun of it. Thank you for calling me sexy thought."

She snorted derisively and continued to hum whatever tune was in her head. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at her and she grinned wickedly at him. He hadn't anticipated having as much fun as he'd had that night. Johanna's friends had left to go on to a club hours ago but she'd stayed with him saying she was much too tired for a late night dancing. And yet here they were at three in the morning attempting to navigate their way back to his apartment after they couldn't get a taxi. It had become apparent five minutes into the walk that Johanna had little capacity for handling her booze. They'd a fair amount of tequila but at least Gale could still walk straight.

"Were nearly here," Gale informed her, grabbing her by the arm and lugging up the stairs. She whistled when they went inside.

"Snazzy apartment male Gale," she spun around in the living area, nearly falling backwards into the TV, "what's with all the boxes though?"

"I'm moving soon," he started filling glasses with water and grabbed the bread from the counter to make her something to eat.

"Cool," she muttered lazily. He glanced over to see she'd already curled up on his sofa. He was going to tell her to sleep in the guest room but his couch was comfy as anything and she already seemed pretty out of it. He left the water next to her on the floor and tucked the blanket in round her.

"Goodnight," he whispered and smiled.

"Night night," she whispered back and giggled before settling down to sleep. He turned out the light.

* * *

Katniss had been anticipating this. The leaflets the midwife had given her had informed her that this could happen and the few things she'd read online and yet she didn't realise exactly just how … urgent it would be when it happened. Hormones were a bitch she decided. She felt like she hadn't thought of sex in years before now, not since she'd moved in with Peeta, and yet here she was, feeling like she was ready to hump the daylights out of anything.

Peeta. This was his fault. He'd kissed her again. That was probably the reason for her inexplicable, surging rush of feelings that were keeping her from falling asleep. She'd felt like this a few times since she'd moved in, she was a woman with needs after all, but her own fingers had been enough to satisfy her. This felt like something else entirely. She'd been tossing and turning for hours, a vague pulsating between her legs and a plethora of images rushing through her mind. The last time she and Peeta had sex. The last time she and Gale had sex. That time after they were first married when she and Gale had done it in the bathroom of the hotel restaurant on their honeymoon. Peeta licking her out on his bathroom counter that wasn't too far from this bedroom. She was even thinking about the rare lesbian fantasies she'd had from porn she'd seen on the internet.

She could have sex if she wanted to. Peeta was in the next room. They hadn't done it since just before she and Gale had started trying to repair their marriage; a few weeks before she found out she was pregnant, but she could always try. She felt a brief rush of something like embarrassment when she ran her hand over the curve of her stomach. Would he want her now the way he did before? She wasn't as slender now, most of the weight she'd gained was on her tummy but she could tell she'd put a little on her thighs and her face as well. She had to buy new clothes and her breasts had gotten bigger and ultra sensitive. She wasn't the same person any more and she didn't want to feel the bitter sting of rejection from someone who was no longer attracted to her when she was already feeling self conscious.

She contented herself with her pillow pressed tightly between her legs instead and thought of her and Peeta, and the time she thinks that this had all started, the time they created the life inside of her.

_He'd been asking her to do things ever since the night they'd spent at his apartment but she couldn't bring herself to say yes again. He stopped speaking to her for a few days in retaliation. She was angry and that made her even more furious; he was making her act like some sort of jealous girlfriend. She went down to the bakery that night. He was sweeping when she went in, clearly finishing for the day._

"_Why haven't you been delivering lately?" He looked at her from under his hair._

"_No reason in particular," he kept sweeping, "Why does it bother you?"_

_She didn't let him finish. She had her mouth against his before he could get out a response and the brush clattered to the floor noisily in the stillness of the bakery._

"_Is your brother still here?" she whispered and he nodded urgently but grabbed his coat before yelling that he was leaving. They'd gotten into his car and she just knew he was taking her to his home but she didn't have the will power to argue with him. She was surprised when he took a turn down a secluded road and they ended up in a spot surrounded by trees. When he rolled down the windows she could smell the sea air too and hear the faint whisper of the ocean._

_They had sex on the passenger seat of his car. She'd never done it like this before, in the car, and always thought it would make her feel juvenile and like some teenager trying to lose their virginity while not getting caught by their parents. On the contrary it turned her on ridiculously despite the little space they had. His nails dug into her hips as she rid him hard, him thrusting up into her roughly, desperate little noises panting from the back of her throat as she came._

_She had noticed later before she went to be that she'd missed a few contraceptive pills but didn't worry too much; it had happened before. The times they'd done it after that she'd asked him to wear a condom, just in case. She hadn't know they were already too late._

She came with a little shout, her face pressed into the bed to muffle her sounds, humping furiously against the pillow as she remembered Peeta's fingers on her nipples and the soft jerking of the car seat.

She still felt a little unsatisfied as she fell asleep but she decided it would have to do.


End file.
